


Clip Her Wings

by unholygrass



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood and Gore, Broken Bones, Capture, Escape, Galra Empire, Gen, Graphic Description, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance panics, NOT RAPE, Pidge Whump, Pidge | Katie Holt-centric, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-02-06 12:32:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12817590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unholygrass/pseuds/unholygrass
Summary: Shiro, Lance, and Pidge are captured on a Galran Battleship. Pidge escapes and is recaptured- to discourage such behavior, her guards are ordered to Clip Her Wings in front of Lance and Shiro. Rescue fic with hurt and comfort and lots of recovery.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS NOT A NON CON FIC. I realize that there's a few moments there where that's what it looks like but it is not. Just know that going in. Anyway- graphic description of injury and illness ahead. Seriously, this one's hard. Please review!

Seventeen minutes. They had seventeen minutes until Keith and Hunk would realize that something was wrong and then enter the ship to take action. 

 

That was a lot of time for something to go horribly wrong. 

 

So of course everything went so completely wrong that the team was going to have to come up with a new definition of “wrong” and also shorten their nonresponse time by fifteen minutes.

 

Because seventeen minutes was far too long to spend in a Galra prison cell, hoping the ship didn’t go into hyperdrive before the rest of your team realized that something had gone wrong. 

 

“And you’re sure your arm can’t melt that?” Lance knew he had already asked once before, but it just really seemed like a thing that Shiro’s arm should be able to do. He’d seen the arm melt through metal, plastic, space goo, rock, other completely unidentifiable things- surely it could handle some wimpy Galra prison bars. 

 

“Yes, Lance, I’m sure. I’ve been trying the entire time we’ve been here and nothing is happening.” Shiro’s voice only barely hints at his annoyance at being doubted, but it is hidden beneath the overall concern about their predicament. 

 

Lance doesn’t reply, because he already knew that, but it doesn’t make it any easier to hear. He hops in place a bit, a ball of anxious energy and churning adrenaline. He is much more of a charmer than he is a fighter, but he looks forward to punching the next Galra he sees in the face. If nothing else, then just to get rid of some of this aggravation. 

 

Shiro keeps his superheated hand on the bar, but turns to face Lance. “We need to make a plan. Keith and Hunk will be looking for us soon, but we may get an opportunity to escape before then, and we still need to get a location on Pidge.” 

 

Lance looks around at their completely bare cell with unenthused eyes and starts to speak when he snaps his jaw shut at the sound of an approaching guard. He and Shiro made eye contact before they both shrunk back away from the bars and into the darker part of the cell where they could attack easier should the guard dare to come in. 

 

Instead they were rewarded with a rather telling bout of radio chatter. 

 

_ “The ah-  uh- the green one! The small one! The small green one has escaped! Is running down North Sector 43 towards Alpha!”  _

 

The guard stopped past their cell, still within their line of sight and plucked the transmitter from his waist to listen. He obviously did not care if Shiro and Lance could hear what was happening, because he kept the comm lines open and glanced over his shoulder at them uncaringly. 

 

_ “Apprehend her at all costs!” _

 

That was a lieutenant. No one got to order anyone else around without a proper rank on the Galra ships, that much the team had noticed early on. Lance looked to Shiro, fear twisting in his gut along with the hope that Pidge would be able to alert the team to their dangerous predicament. It also meant that she was now in a more severe level of danger than before when she had been a simple prisoner like them. 

 

Their communication lines had been cut off moments before they had been ambushed and captured, and that generally meant bad news for Pidge, seeing as she was almost always monitoring their status and keeping their signal strong. If the comms went down completely, then something was very wrong with Pidge. 

 

The look on Shiro’s face confirmed Lance’s thoughts. He was proud about her escape but worried about her recapture. 

 

_ “She’s in the east wing now! She’s still got the weapon- engage with caution!”  _

 

The guard that was standing outside their cell turned to face them now, and Lance realized he wasn’t a guard at all, but a ranking officer. His uniform was littered with badges and stars, and a face that not even a purple mother monster would want to kiss. The officer watched them curiously, and Lance glanced at Shiro as nervousness swam up his throat. His face betrayed none of his emotions, but something was very off about this Galra in particular. Lance couldn’t say exactly what, but there was a  _ wrongness _ that oozed from him and made the hair on Lance’s neck shiver. 

 

They radio chatter was listing where to locate injured officers now, and the concern washed away to be replaced by pure pride again. They may not have anything to worry about after all. Their little pigeon was kicking ass and taking names, as per usual. 

 

_ “She’s disappeared! We’ve lost visual! I repeat, we’ve lost visual!”  _

 

Lance saw Shiro’s hidden smile as he ducked his head to look at the floor, focusing on listening rather than on the unnerving stare of the Galra officer who still stood in front of them. 

 

Fourteen minutes now. Maybe thirteen. Even if Pidge got caught again, she was making one hell of a distraction. 

 

_ “We’ve apprehended her. Repeat, prisoner has been apprehended.”  _ The words came through choppily and strained, as though the person speaking were trying to handle a small, green paladin who was absolutely not going anywhere without a fight. 

 

Still though, the words made lead drop inside of Lance’s stomach and his stomach churn. They had Pidge again, but that didn’t mean everything had completely gone to shit. If she had still had her weapon, then it was likely that she still had on her armor, and was able to access the comm line inside the helmet. Hunk and Keith were probably already on their way. 

 

The Galra standing in front of the prison bars raised the radio to his lips and made eye contact with Shiro when he spoke. “Bring her to cell block A7, cell 49. Await my instruction.” A brief glance across the hall confirmed that their neighboring cells were 47, 48, and 50, so there was a good chance that the cell Lance and Shiro were currently sharing was the same cell they planned to bring Pidge to. That was a little confusing. He would much rather have Pidge with them where they could see that she was safe and in the same place as them. It would mean that they would have extra hands were they to escape or would at the very least be in the same place to be rescued. 

 

And all of that should have been enough reason for the Galra to  _ not  _ bring Pidge to the same place as them. If anything, it would make more sense for the Galra to separate them and keep them too far apart to contact each other at all. 

 

They waited a few minutes before Shiro and Lance could hear the heavy footfalls of more approaching people (nine minutes...) and the very obviously pissed cursing of their very own Pidge Gunderson. 

 

The officer that they had been waiting with moved out of the way and took several steps back, but never moved to open the door. Finally, Pidge came into view, held up by two more guards who had their arms locked beneath her armpits and were preventing her from touching the ground no matter how much she twisted and squirmed. She was red in the face and breathing heavily from the chase around the ship and her struggles to slip free from their hold. Her hands were trapped between the guards but Lance could see that she was trying to pry at their armor or scratch them or maybe just get some purchase, but she wasn’t getting anywhere. She looked feral with how messy her hair was from having her hemet forcibly removed from her head, and her eyes, which were glaring at anyone who dared to look at her. 

 

Pidge wasn’t normally the type to become furious- she was snarky and brilliant, and she channeled her emotions through sarcasm and her actions. There were few pressure points that could set her spitting with rage- only threats against her family, her team, or her projects could really set her off. 

 

It made Lance fear what they had told her or done to her. 

 

He wasn’t exactly given a chance to ask. A third and final guard stood behind them all, carefully holding Pidge’s glowing bayard, still active from the energy Pidge was putting off. 

 

The officer regarded them all with an air of superiority while seeming unfazed by Pidge’s wild look. When he spoke, his voice was much smoother than Lance would have predicted it to be. It was deep and calm and damnit maybe it made sense that he was in a position of power. One look at Shiro confirmed he was thinking the same thing. 

 

“Where did you find her?” 

 

“In Alpha Block 90, sir. It appears that she was looking for these two.” He motioned at the cell with his head, and he saw Shiro press his lips into a tight line. 

 

Apparently Pidge had decided that she was done listening to anyone at all, and turned as best she could to see Shiro and Lance. The look of relief on her face made Lance hate every single Galra all the more for even making her believe that her friends might be dead. 

 

“I’m okay.” She mouthed at them, her eyes raking over them to confirm they were as well. 

 

“How did she escape in the first place?” 

 

“The guards thought something was wrong with her- she was making some sort of noise. When they opened the door she got past them and locked them in.”

 

Lance snorted. The guard closest to the cell banged on the door. “Be quiet.”

 

Shiro inched closer, and Lance noticed the anxiety radiating off of him. Shiro was getting bad vibes about this scenario that Lance wasn’t picking up on. Shiro also knew a lot more about how the Galra treated their prisoners than Lance did.  

 

“Shiro?” He whispered, mouth barely moving. He didn’t get a response. Now Lance was worried that perhaps Shiro wasn’t completely with them, but he was obviously watching the scene with rapt attention, and he didn’t appear to be spaced out at all. 

 

It was hard to communicate with your team when you were trying to keep the enemy from knowing your plans. 

 

Pidge was still watching them both, her eyes more focused now that she was with them. Lance vaguely realizes that there isn’t much of a plan to be made. Whatever was about to happen was going to happen and that would be it. 

 

And yet he catches a subtle movement from Pidge. She shifts her eyes to the east and up, right where Lance had to guess the yellow lion was waiting for them. It’s small, but he’s able to decipher the message. 

 

She’d managed to contact Keith, Hunk, and the castle. Their seven minutes remaining has been cut to possibly two. 

 

Their attention is drawn back to the officer when he speaks. “You are the youngest paladin, that is clear.” Pidge does not dignify that with a response. “And yet you have proven yourself to be very crafty. We will not underestimate you again.” The way he says it almost sounds like an apology. Lance can’t help but imagine it.  _ Sorry that we permitted you to escape ma'am, that was our bad. We will put you with your teammates to make up for your wasted time. _

 

“Nonetheless, we cannot have a repeat of this incident, and I plan on having you stay with us here for quite a while.” Lance’s snort is ignored this time, but the officer smiles when Pidge scoffs at him. 

 

All of that would have been concerning, even if he hadn’t turned to look Shiro directly in the eye. He seemed to ponder what to say next before leaning against the closest wall, the perfect image of nonchalance. “Clip her wings.” 

 

Shiro’s look of confusion is mirrored on all of the paladin’s faces, but the guards apparently know what that means because the moment the words are said they burst into a frenzy of movement. Before Lance can even form a word of protest, they have Pidge laid out flat on her back, arms pinned out in a crucifix formation with a guard keeping both wrists pinned to the floor. Lance threw himself at the bars separating them with profanities on his tongue and panic looming in his throat. “Get your fucking hands off of her- I swear to fucking god-”

 

The officer continued to watch Shiro before seeming to become disinterested and casting his gaze to the events that were now playing out on the ground. 

 

Shiro had joined him at the entrance to the cell, but he did not speak, simply activated his arm and reached as far as he could. The guards seemed to have been expecting that however, and they were just out of his reach to burn them. 

 

With just her arms pinned, Pidge kicked up her entire lower body with the goal to smash her foot in the face of anyone who was close. She was almost snarling, a noise Lance had once heard come from Keith when he had been trapped in a raid that had left him pinned behind a rock. It was an automatic reaction that came from the lions- when the paladins were beaten down to their most primal selves, the lions had a tendency to project themselves more strongly in an effort to protect their paladin. Lance had never seen it so clearly until now. The panic in Pidge’s eyes was far more animalistic than anything he had ever seen from the girl.

 

She was so frantic, in fact, that the final guard had to sit on her hips to pin her completely and keep her from freeing herself, despite the fact that the Galra holding her were far stronger than a fourteen year old girl. 

 

There were words coming out of Lance’s mouth, but he didn’t know what they were. Probably attempts at distraction or threats or just about every bad word he had in his brain.

 

But the guards weren’t stopping, and now the officer wouldn’t even look at them. 

 

The guard on her hips had stored the bayard further down the hall so his hands were free, and he began roughly yanking of the tough armor that covered her arms. In the end the entire chest piece came off with it because he apparently couldn’t unlatch it properly. 

 

Now that Pidge was left in only her undersuit, the guard pulled out his gun and flipped it over, the barrel facing the ceiling. Some sort of shout exploded out of Lance’s throat, but before any thought had a chance to form in his head, the guard had swung down the gun with the ferocity of a predator, and the bones in Pidge’s right arm  _ crunched.  _

 

Her shriek wasn’t finished before it came down again, this time on the upper arm, and even then, no noise came from her throat other than a horrible gurgle and the sound of someone suffocating. The guard on her hips struggled momentarily as she writhed violently, back arching before she turned her head and vomited foggy bile onto the floor beneath her head. 

 

Lance is no longer screaming. All of the air in his lungs has been expelled and the horrific sight in front of him has wiped his brain of its ability to breathe. His vision darkens briefly and some sort of survival instinct kicks in and he fills his lungs up once more, a strangled whine piercing the air. 

 

There were no thoughts for this. There was no conscious thought besides  _ hate, kill, kill them, get away from her, get  _ them _ away from her-  _

 

He does not know what Shiro is doing because he can suddenly see nothing except for her- nothing except for the way the guards have her pinned down so she can’t even writhe- can’t struggle- she can’t fight them- they’re torturing her and she can’t-

 

She’s gasping for air now, her face pallid and her lips grey, unconsciously bucking against the arms that are holding her down. Her feet are scraping and bashing against the floor, and Lance can’t see much more of her than that. 

 

But he does see the gun get raised to the ceiling again, the guard’s target clearly being her other arm. 

 

And then his head is practically blasted from his body by Hunk’s bayard. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team escapes to the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is going to be a little longer than you may have thought because I am combining two ideas I had recently. The end of this story hints to where I'm going with this. Just a heads up: it is not a problem quickly solved, so we're going to get more hurt and comfort and it's gonna be great. Expect the next chapter tomorrow. I'm trying to update this hella fast.

The heavy thud of the guard’s body dropping onto Pidge’s small form is drowned out by the rapid fire of Hunk’s cannon wreaking absolute havoc on the remaining Galrans. Lance is awarded the honor or watching the officer be shot through the back and collapse into a heap on the floor in puddle of dark blood. The remaining soldiers spring up from where they were pinning Pidge, only to be struck down by Keith’s bloodied sword. 

 

“Fuck- oh my god.” Keith had a much better view of Pidge than Lance did in that moment, and he didn’t spare neither him or Shiro a second glance once his eyes landed on her. He drops to the ground gracelessly and shoves the guards’ dead bodies off of her and far away with a labored huff.

 

“Hunk- the guards have a key. We need to get out of here.” Shiro’s voice rings through Lance’s head for the first time since this had all started, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t making noise- Lance may have not just have heard him. By the rough watery edge to it, Lance knows better than to assume that Shiro is okay. This has fucked him up. 

 

This has fucked them all up. 

 

Lance briefly eyes Hunk as he roots around in the guards’ pockets, wincing at the fact that these are very, very dead bodies, but he is eventually drawn instead to Pidge. 

 

She has curled onto her injured side, eyes squeezed so tightly shut that her whole face seemed to bunch upwards. Her hair had vomit in it and her skin had turned nearly translucent. She hadn’t moved her right arm at all and she looked like a coil wound too tightly, like the smallest nudge and she would explode and break apart. Keith is bent over her, one hand resting on the crown of her head but the other hand afraid to touch. When his prompting got no verbal response from her, he looked up to Lance and Shiro with a  horrified expression dawned on his face. “What the hell did they do to her?”

 

Lance has seen Keith stare death in the face and lunge for its throat, but never before has he ever seen him so scared.

 

Hunk has the door open, and now that he is no longer bound by the bars, he finds that he should be drawing his weapon and preparing to fight -it is obvious that Hunk and Keith have fought their way in, they will have to fight their way out -but instead his knees turn to water and he falls besides Keith, now finally getting a good look at his youngest teammate for the first time. 

 

He hadn’t expected blood. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but blood had not been apart of it. 

 

However there is a lot of blood on Pidge. Lots of dark black galran blood, but also lots of bright red human blood. It’s coming from both spots of impact, where the muscle and bone and  _ fuck- it’s ruined. Stop looking at it. He’s never seen what was supposed to be a limb so smashed-  _ he has to turn away briefly. Shiro has his hologram up, and the princess’s face is visible. He can see that Shiro’s arm is shaking too much for the the video to remain still. They’re going to have to move soon. 

 

He turns back to Pidge. “Pidge- god” She’s fucking tiny. She’s fourteen and literally half his weight- and they did  _ this  _ to her-

 

_ Focus Lance! _

 

“Pidge- We’re right here okay? No one’s going to hurt you. We aren’t going to let anyone get near you.” Keith has moved over, his fingers hovering above the breaks. There will be no good way to move her. Lance puts his hand on her head again, unbothered by the way her sweat sticks to his skin and plasters her hair to her forehead. “The team is here. And we’re going to get you out, and into a healing pod, and everything will be fine.” She doesn’t respond to him, but he’s fairly sure that she’s heard him somewhat. He can tell that she’s still conscious

 

“We can’t move her like this.” Keith murmurs. He looks numb. “We’ll have to splint it- hand me her arm guards.” He points behind Lance. After retrieving them, Lance understands his idea. Shiro and Hunk stand above them, guarding the hallway should anyone come and disturb them before they were ready to move. They can hear the sounds of troops assembling very far away, and it is clear that they will not be able to simply walk out. 

 

“The castle is attacking!” Hunk relays for them. “Allura is drawing their attention so we can get out easier.” Lance looks up to where Shiro is confirming and then puts the rest of his attention on Pidge. If they can get her stable then they will be able to escape and get her into a healing pod. 

 

She needed to get in a healing pod. Anything that could help erase the lines of agony that were twisting her young face. 

 

“Pidge. Hey. We’re going to have to put the arm guards on. It’s probably going to hurt- I’m so sorry. But we can't move you without it stabilized.” His voice is shaking, and his stomach is rolling violently, afraid to say or do the wrong thing- afraid of making it worse. He pushes the hair off of her forehead and behind her ears, wiping away a good deal of sweat with it. She does not open her eyes, but she does nod, a tiny weak movement to convey that she understood. “Atta girl.” he croaks, and his cheeks are hot and wet now but he doesn’t really feel like he’s crying- it’s more like the horror and sadness had overwhelmed his tear ducts and they freaked out to make up for it. 

 

He searches out her uninjured hand which had previously been scraping at the floor, and he wraps it around his forearm. He’s momentarily unsure the best way to hold her so Keith could work, but they don’t have time to ponder, so his hands wrap around her arm and shoulder and Keith takes it as permission to go. 

He moves quickly, using both hands to just- try to make the arm straight- but it’s obviously been shattered and they certainly can’t set it so he makes it fit into the armor and clasps it on, first the upper arm and then the lower. The effect is instantaneous. Pidge tries to roll over on the arm completely in an unconscious attempt to just make the pain  _ stop,  _ but Lance wraps his arm around her and keeps her on her side. He knew Pidge was strong, but it takes far more effort to keep her still than he thought it would. She makes little noise besides a low pitch whine that makes Lance think she would be screaming if she could, but that she simply can’t get enough air in her lungs to make it happen. It made sense logically. It was already broken and they were fucking with it again, but Lance’s brain isn’t really thinking past  _ God Pidge please pass out oh god this is fucked up I’m so sorry I’m so sorry _ and apparently some of those thoughts escaped his mouth as words because Shiro is kneeling next to them now, his flesh hand cupped around the base of Lance’s head even as he eyes the corridor for signs of a threat. 

 

Breathing is difficult, and not just for him. He can see the way Keith’s chest is jumping. 

 

“It’s over. It’s done. We need to move now.” Keith bends down and runs a quick hand over Pidge’s crown before digging one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back. Lance leans forward without prompting and only hesitates for a moment before lifting the injured arm up and across Pidge’s stomach were it can lie while Keith carries her. Together they stand, and Pidge makes a soft noise of protest before mumbling “I can walk.” 

 

“I know. But I’m going to carry you.” She most certainly could not walk. 

 

“Okay.”

 

She does open her eyes now, and Lance catches Shiro’s saddened expression at the glossy film that has clouded their youngest teammate’s eyes. Her face has stopped scrunching up now though, but Lance is fairly certain it’s not a good thing. 

 

“They’re coming now!” Hunk calls over his shoulder, cannon raised and pointed down the hall where guards could be seen rounding the corner. 

 

As a singular unit, the paladins start running, with Hunk and Lance firing a few warning shots to give the guards a reason to keep their distance. Keith made an effort not to jostle Pidge as much as he could, but she was still biting down on her lip hard enough that he caught a faint trickle of blood run down her chin. “It’ll just be a few more minutes. Then we’ll be on the ship and you can go to sleep.” He had assumed the role of carrying her because Lance’s blaster would be more effective at playing defense than his sword while getting out, but there was also a small piece of selfishness that came with his decision to carry her himself. 

 

This team was his family, and the idea of Pidge being in pain or hurt was upsetting enough that it had struck him a little silly. He had not expected to feel so nauseous because she was hurting. Holding her against his chest firmly gave him the best angle to make sure she was alive and breathing and okay. It also made him her last form of defense should they be caught- and by god would he ever let anyone else on this fucking ship so much as breathe in her direction. 

 

He keeps his head up and dodges any stray fire that comes their way as the team maneuvers towards where the Green Lion is docked. Cloaked as she was, it was a very slim chance that the Green Lion had been compromised, making her their most accessible route of escape. There were several close calls, once where in Hunk was knocked down by a blast that caught the corner of his shield and a very surprised guard who had not expected to meet Shiro’s Galran prosthetic to the face. 

 

Pidge is not heavy. In fact, she is almost concerningly light, but he knows she eats just as much as the rest of them, if not on the same rigid schedule due to her late nights and early mornings. He briefly wonders if he should ask someone about that. Then he briefly almost trips and rams into the wall, and decides then and there to stop thinking. 

 

As the Green Lion comes into view finally, Keith risks a glance down at the girl in his arms. She’s not made much noise, and he fears she may have scarred her lips, but now when he looks, panic blooms in his chest. She’s awake and watching where they go, her eyes trained on the Green Lion like it is a heavenly angel come to whisk her away from hell. More concerning however is that her grey skin is no longer sweating, but is instead far too dry and cold. Her eyes have fogged over despite their seeming alertness, and what pink that was left in her complexion has disappeared. 

 

She was deep in the grasp of shock, and he hadn’t even noticed until now. 

 

“Talk to me Pidge. Tell me something that you know more about than me.” It’s a weak attempt at humor, trying to spark the snark that lives in her, but he has to repeat it twice before she hears him. The Green Lion is crouching down and opening her jaw to let them into her protection. Shiro has entered a command into the room’s control center that will open the Airlock doors in twenty seconds- plenty of time for them to board. They stumble up and in. “A blanket- in the back, in the emergency kit. And water. Anything. She’s in shock.” Shiro is faster and closest to the back, and he hands the soft blanket back out before digging in again for water. Keith falls into the pilot’s chair with Pidge in his arms and Green must get the hint that her paladin is in deep shit because before any of them have a chance to hang on she pounces outside of the doors and bee lines for the castle. 

 

In Green’s rush, Lance stumbled forward and over Shiro, who barely managed to catch him while his other hand was digging around in the emergency supplies “Thanks.” 

 

“Pidge- Come on, tell me something. Hey- the sky is blue because it’s a reflection of the ocean right? Tell me why I’m wrong.” Keith reached down and patted her face gently, trying to spur her brain into functioning again.

 

“No... that’s wrong.” She murmurs, but Keith has to lean over her to really hear it. Her lips haven’t really moved either, but he knows what she said. 

 

“Why is it wrong. Tell me.” He finally gets a chance to wrap the blanket around her, holding her a little more firmly to keep it from slipping off. “Tell me why I’m wrong.” 

 

She sucked in a shaky breath and finally made eye contact with him. “The molecules... in the air scatter blue light... more than red or green. Until sunset...” He nods to encourage her to continue, but that’s apparently all she has to say, and her eyes drift over to Lance, who catches her gaze and leans over to put a hand on her head. 

 

“You know the science of sunsets, so you can certainly appreciate them.” Lance grins, pushing back her hair. She shakes her head at him in stubborn defiance to agree with him- Disagreeing simply to disagree. He seems to appreciate it anyway. 

 

Green touches down in the hanger far quicker than expected, and they waste no time in jumping out and running towards the healing chambers. Coran meets them halfway, explaining that Allura was still firing on the ship and steering them to safety where they could wait out the storm. He gets Pidge out of the paladin armor far faster than any of the paladins have ever managed, but stops Keith from taking off her undersuit. 

 

“It’s not ideal, but it will work as a healing suit for now. Here-” He’s coded one of the pods to lay horizontal and Keith wastes no time putting her inside and sealing it off. 

 

It’s all terribly anticlimactic. There is still fire running through his veins itching to get out and punch something, and now they are safe after the rush and there’s nothing else to be done and her blood is still on him- 

 

Lance walks up to the pod and plops down in front of it, leaning his head back on the glass and closing his eyes. After a moment he puts his head between his knees. Hunk joins him. 

 

Allura startles them all when she jogs around the corner, her eyes searching them all out and landing on Pidge. She asks the question that is weighing on all of their minds. 

 

“What happened?” 

 

The question is probably directed at Shiro, but Lance beats him to it, having been there also. “They caught us. She escaped. They caught her again.”  He sucks in a ragged breath, running his hand across his forehead. “They held her down on the ground, and they broke her arm. Twice.” His words are dripping with malice and the look on his face is dark. Keith hopes he’s not vibrating, because he feels like maybe he could. He feels like maybe he could walk back onto that ship and strike every galran on it down with nothing but his sword and feel not a thing for it.

 

Lance looks like he’s sharing his thoughts.

 

Hunk is still staring at Pidge. “Her arm isn’t just broken... it’s...” His words trail off, and Keith knows what Hunk is referring to. He’s talking about the way the bone pierced the skin in four places and is visibly bumpy beneath the skin. The area is purple with pooling blood in the muscles that go far beyond simple bruising. It looks like it’s trying to swell but is too compressed to get there. It doesn’t really look like an arm anymore. “But the pods can fix it. I mean, we’ve seen prisoners in worse condition. He looks to Coran for confirmation.

 

He doesn’t receive it. “I’m not sure.”

 

“Not sure?” Keith doesn’t mean for the words to escape his mouth, but they do, and they come out rather rough around the edges. He softens his tone. “What do you mean?”

 

Shiro has stepped up next to Coran at the control panel now to peer at the screen, and the grim line of understanding that forms on his forehead does not do anything to lighten the lump of dread that is hanging around in Keith’s throat. 

 

“The pods accelerate healing. They may seem like magical fixing machines, but they can only fix something that the body can heal itself. The Cryopods just expedite the process.” Coran’s tone is quiet and troubled, and Keith is briefly reminded of how much Coran cares for the paladins himself. 

 

“It’s too shattered, in both areas. There’s no way we would be able to set it right ourselves, and her body won’t be able to do it either, with or without the pod’s help.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pod won't solve this one boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW its been a long time since I've updated this fic but I'm proud to say I am currently back in the Voltron fandom so expect everything to update all at once and then I'll disappear again lmao.

“So what does that mean? What does it mean?” The words spill out of Hunk’s mouth before anyone else gets a chance to blink. “The pods can’t fix it?” The yellow paladin looked frantically from Coran to the pod’s hologram display to Pidge’s stasis body in rapid succession. His stomach was twisting uncomfortably with fear, making his skin erupt in goosebumps and a shiver of dread tickle at the base of his neck. 

 

Allura had joined Coran at the display now, looking it over thoroughly with troubled eyes. The glow from the screen lit her face up blue and made her frown look even more prominent than before. “No. Not like this they can’t. The pods make it easier for the body to heal and accelerates the process while minimizing infection. At this rate the pods will force the body to heal with the bones out of place making the arm inoperative. And that’s if it isn’t lost to spetis from the blood that’s pooling there.” She brings a hand up to her chin, covering her mouth in dismay. She was making these assumptions based off of what Shiro had told her about the similarities between human and Altean bodies. She locked eyes with him to see if he agreed with her findings. He hesitated to look at her but eventually nodded, eyes trained on the pod that held their youngest teammate. 

 

Keith felt like he was coiled too tightly, his entire body itching to explode with agitation and aggression. There were no enemies to fight now, and that meant he was useless. There was nothing he could do to help his friend. He wanted to walk out of the room, to escape the suffocating pressure that was building with each passing moment as they realized that Pidge wouldn’t be able to sleep it off, but he wasn’t willing to leave with his team in such a precarious  position or with Pidge so fragile. 

 

Lance had picked his head up, before making it back to his feet and beginning to pace from one end of the room to the other. 

 

“So what do we do?” Keith’s voice was harsh, bouncing off the edges of the room and making Coran keep his head down and his eyes locked on the display in front of him.

 

“We— should we take her back to Earth? Could a surgeon fix it do you think? Set it back to normal?” Hunk spoke up, his fingers twisting together and wringing out. His eyes sought out anyone in the room who would make eye contact with him. 

 

“We can’t go back to Earth. The Galra are keeping track of us. We would be leading them straight home and Earth isn’t anywhere near prepared for this kind of warfare.” Keith shot back. 

 

“Well what the hell are we supposed to do?” Lance’s tone was aimed at Keith, angry that they had few options and that it was Pidge who was caught in the downfall because of it. All of them were grating on each other, fear and panic bubbling up to the surface so hotly that everyone could feel the heat. 

 

“We can’t leave her in there. We have to take her out. If she stays in there it won’t take long for the pod to make the arm ineffective.” Allura says, stepping forward towards the others when their faces contorted in anxiety and terror. 

 

“We can’t take her out!” Keith protested, stepping towards the cryopod like he alone would stop them from removing her. He had seen the pain in her eyes before they had put her under. Bringing her back to the real world before the pain was gone was a punishment she didn’t deserve. 

 

“She’s right Keith. Leaving her in there will only make it heal wrong, which would make her worse. She’ll turn septic.” Shiro plactated, speaking for the first time in awhile. He looked shaken, his normal stoic mask in place but his body language anxious and agitated. 

 

The glow on Allura’s face turned from blue to red as the display changed to an emergency alert. Coran spoke up. “She already has. We have to do this now.” He tapped several commands into the screen and the pod began to shift. 

 

Allura turned to Coran. “Ready some painkillers— and a sedative maybe. We’ll come meet you in the infirmary.” As he stepped away to do so, Shiro stepped up to the pod as it opened once again and carefully hoisted their youngest teammate into his arms before she even had a chance to open her eyes. Lance stepped forward, wanting to do something but obviously not knowing what, his fingers twitching towards her but leaning backwards. 

 

“This is insane—” Hunk started, fear etched clearly out across his face. Pidge let out a low moan, her legs kicking out in Shiro’s arms before she bucked and tried to push away from him. In the process she lifted the broken arm which assaulted her with an onslaught of pain, tearing a breathless screech from her lips as she still tried to escape. Shiro tightened his hold to keep from dropping her as she writhed, clutching her more firmly to his chest to secure her. 

 

“Lance— guys, talk to her. Calm her down.” Shiro grunted, breathless from trying to keep Pidge still so she wouldn’t worm out of his arms. 

 

Keith looked ass though opening his mouth was the worst possible thing he could do, but Lance and Hunk had already stepped forward to work instead. 

 

“Pidge! Pidge— hold still. I know it hurts, but you’re safe and you need to calm down. Look at me.” Lance stepped up next to Shiro and took Pidge’s face into his hands, and together they walked like that towards the infirmary. Allura snatched Hunk and Keith and pointed at a linen closet with directions. 

 

It took a moment, but eventually Pidge stopped squirming and locked eyes with Lance. “There you go.” He praised, brushing her hair off of her clammy face. She glanced up to see who was holding her, aware only that she was being moved and that someone was carrying her. She closed her eyes again. 

 

She was fairly surprised that she remembered what had happened. Her stomach shuddered as she thought back to being held down, large purple beings looming over her, pinning her to the floor no matter how hard she bucked and twisted and screamed. 

 

The arms around her suddenly feel suffocating, and the pain is washed out by a wave of adrenaline and fear. “Let me go. Put me down—” 

 

“It’s just Shiro Pidge, promise.” Lance says, surprised by the strength in her voice.

 

She shakes her head, feet moving. “Let me go—”

 

Shiro beats Lance to it. “Okay Pidge. I’m letting you go. Just hang on and I’ll put you down.” True to his word, they had entered the infirmary and he set her down on a padded table next to Coran. She clung to him with her good arm to keep herself sitting up, but she seemed calmer once he had unwrapped his arms from her. Her other arm hung lifelessly at her side, and Shiro finds himself regretting to look at it. The fabric of her undersuit was torn and ripped from where pieces of the bone had protruded through, and it was soaked in blood that had turned a rusty brown once it dried. The sudden transportation of moving her had started it bleeding again, mixing the flaking blood with fresh vibrant red. He noticed Lance staring at it too and nudged him with his foot. 

 

Pidge looked green around the edges, skin waxy and eyes clouded with pain. Tears were building in her eyes involuntarily even as her face remained passive and emotionless. A moment later and they spilled down her dirty cheeks and Shiro reached up and wiped them away with a frown. She seemed apathetic even though he knew she was in significant discomfort, and that was a bad sign. She swayed slightly were she sat, but he couldn't tell if it was because she was struggling to remain upright or if she was self comforting. She’s still holding onto him though, so he doesn’t say anything. 

 

Allura comes up next to him with Coran who is holding a tray of various equipment, a few Shiro recognizes as high tech syringes. Some distant part of his soul from his days in captivity twists at his insides as he remembers being injected so he could be experimented on, but he keeps his feet planted and doesn’t turn away as he longs to do. Keith and Hunk have disappeared somewhere, though Shiro never saw them go. 

 

“Can I get up there with her?” Lance asks, pointing at the table. At Coran’s nod, he boosts himself up and sits against Pidge’s uninjured side, wrapping an arm around her back. She looked at him for a moment before accepting his silent comfort, and allowed herself to sink against his bony side, her cheek pressing against his collarbone while she eyes the instruments on the tray warily. 

 

“No pod?” She asks, her voice rough and grating. It comes out close to a whisper, though Lance doesn’t think she intends it to. He shakes his head at her. 

 

“It will only make it worse. We have to figure out where to go.” 

 

She nods, somehow accepting this information for what it is. “Will I lose my arm?” The apathy is still there, but her voice cracks mid sentence and she sniffs violently after a moment. She seemed to be coming around more. 

 

“Not if we have anything to say about it.” Allura puts in, planting a firm hand on the girl’s knee. “We’re going to get it fixed, we just have to find somewhere to go.” 

 

“Not Earth.” Pidge says, looking her in the eyes. She let go of Shiro and swiped her useable hand across her face. “We’d be leading the Galra right to them.” 

 

Allura nods. “No. Not Earth. Somewhere else. Millions of colonies have the capabilities, we just have to find one that’s safe and experienced.” 

 

“Until then we can take care of you the best we can.” Coran speaks up, stepping forward. He set the tray down on the table on Pidge’s injured side. “Is that okay?” 

 

She eyes the trap next to her, taking in each tool one by one before nodding. “Okay. But if I ask someone to punch me to knock me out then you gotta do it.” She directs her words at Shiro, like she was seriously expecting him to deliver a blow to her temple if she requests. Lance doesn’t doubt her sincerity. 

 

“No one will have to punch you Pidge. I have a very strong nerve blocker right here— we’ll scan you first so we don’t mess up the dosage then administer it before we do anything else.” Allura explains. “It might make you feel loopy and tired, and I’ll be honest with you, it may have other side effects in humans I’m not aware of, but the scan will determine that it is perfectly safe.” 

 

“Gotcha.” Pidge says, shifting on the table some. “I’m ready.” 

 

The scan looks nearly identical to a security wand at an airport, and the needles must be far more impressive than what they have on Earth because Lance notices that Pidge doesn’t even flinch. Lance can feel her beginning to sag more against him, and he tightens his hold on her ever so slightly. 

 

They wait for Keith and Hunk to come back with soft sweats and blankets before getting to the hard part of cutting off her suit so they could bind the arm to her chest before she redressed. “The boys can leave the room if you’d like Pidge?” Allura wasn’t completely accustomed to the human’s strange modiest tendencies , but she knew that nudity between genders seemed to be a sensitive subject. 

 

Pidge however couldn’t seem to care less. Whether it was the drugs or just Pidge’s own natural indifference she wasn’t sure, but her youngest paladin simply shrugged and shook her head. “Don’t care. Seen it all before.” 

 

Keith and Hunk both turned around anyway. Permission now secured, Coran carefully cut away the soiled undersuit and with some help from Shiro they managed to get it off of her torso without causing any more damage. Thankfully Pidge hadn’t bothered with wearing a bra for a long time—Lance vaguely remembered her mentioning something about it awhile ago, something about that if they didn’t wear bras then neither was she. Lance had taken his arm off of her to help, as well as to maintain a certain level of  _ she’s naked maybe don’t touch her for a moment,  _ when he noticed something concerning. “Shiro— her fingertips.” He pointed. 

 

Shiro looks immediately, forcing Coran to pause before he wrapped the arm. He kneeled down so he didn’t have to bend it to see, touching but not moving. Lance’s concern was warranted— her fingertips were a darker red, with the very tips turning purple. 

 

Fuck.  _ Fuck. _

 

“Okay.” He says. His stomach twists. It was happening slowly, but Pidge’s hand was losing circulation. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Allura asks, now bending down with him as well to see what he was looking at. 

 

“The blue tint— it means it’s not getting enough oxygen, which means it’s not getting enough blood. Either the build up of blood is compressing the capillaries or bone or something. We need to get this fixed as quickly as possible.” He stands again and nods to Coran. “You can wrap it. I don’t think anything we do will restore the blood flow.” He turned to Allura. “We need to talk about where we’re going and then getting there.” 

 

“Of course.” She says. “We could go to the Logaika— they’re still repairing their defensive systems, but over half of their civilian facilities are back in order.” 

 

While keeping an ear out for their debate about which planet would be able to help Pidge the best care, Lance looked back to Pidge. Her cheek was hot against his collarbone and her shoulder was digging into his ribcage. At Coran’s instruction, he straightened up and helped hold her up as well since her muscles seemed to have been reduced to jelly by whatever Allura had given her. Coran made quick work of the thick wrappings, and in a moment Pidge’s destroyed arm was firmly bound to her chest where there was little chance of it being dislodged or worsened. Hunk stepped forward once called and between the three of them they managed to wrestle her out of the remains of her flight suit and into a baggy hoodie and sweats. Hunk tucked the empty sleve inside the hoodie and then frowned. “Is she okay?”

 

Pidge had not said anything even while they were moving her, and while she tensed up earlier from the pain of her arm being set, she had not moved since. Lance pulled away some to see her face. “Pidge?” 

 

“Mmmm—mm?” She opened her eyes and blinked at them, her tongue heavy in her mouth and her spine feeling like it was made of jello. None of her limbs seemed to want to work. “Yeah?”

 

“You still with us Number Five?” Coran asks, pulling back the collar of the hoodie to glance at where they had injected the nerve blocker but then stepping back to wash his hands. 

 

“No.” She says, eyes closing again. Hunk wants to laugh at her moodiness, but he was still too deeply rooted in concern to do so. 

 

“Maybe we should put her in bed.” He says instead, watching as Lance ends up taking on more and more of her weight as she relaxed. 

 

“Good idea.” Keith mumbles, finally joining them. 

 

“Let’s put her in my room. It’s far more spacious and I’m not totally sure her room is safe at the moment.” Hunk snorts at Allura’s very accurate observation. Pidge’s room doubled as a tech lab, which meant it was practically wrapped in wires connected to projects connected to the castle’s power sources. It held various sensitively calibrated computers and ravaged metal sensors just begging to get stepped on so they could spear someone. 

 

Hunk ends up leading the parade to Allura’s room while she, Coran, and Shiro hurried to the bridge where they could hail the Olkari’s to confirm their travel plans. The Olkari had their civilian facilities completely back in order as well as several defense systems. They were already expanding to become a hub for refugees. They had access to some of the most advanced technological innovations available, and it had been decided that there was a good chance they would be able to help Pidge the best. 

 

Plus— they had Ryner on speed dial. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please review!


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